Minecraft: The First Journey
by IcefireStarfire
Summary: Everyone remembers their first journey into Minecraftia, that very first mission to survive that sent such a thrilling feeling of excitement coursing through them. Only some don't remember that first journey. The turning point of their lives, when they were finally released into the dangerously beautiful world of Minecraft... This is my first journey. The journey of a lifetime...
1. Prologue

Many Minecraftians remember their first journey, the first time they were sent out into Minecraftia. Who would forget that first thrilling shock of excitement, making their heart beat faster and their hands cold with expectation? Who would forget that first sight of the world they were to explore, when they finally spawned in it?

Few people would likely forget that first journey, maybe perhaps the oldest of veterans or the ones who have turned their backs on the endless mission to survive. Some end up not liking what they have been sent here to do, having perhaps enjoyed it until their first death or so.

I remember my first journey as clear as if it were yesterday. I remember the excitement and confusion all mixed together into one of anxious determination, the first impression I had of the world I was to explore.

I remember how I had traveled far and wide, absorbing all the resources the world had to offer, and blissfully remaining unaware of the possible enemies who lurked in the darkest nights.

And I remember, how when I finally released the nightly terrors into my world, how I fought valiantly to get what I wanted from them, to kill them before they killed me...

I remember it all, and I loved that first journey like every other that came after it.

And, unlike some, I was not shaken by my first experience of death, knowing well that I could start again, that I really hadn't lost everything. After all, the world was mine and only mine, to explore, survive, or destroy if I so wished.

Here is the retelling of my first journey. The journey that changed me forever...


	2. Chapter 1: I Spawn in a Jungle

When I began my first journey, I spawned in a jungle.

The jungle confused me very much, and I was slow to look around, but I urged myself onwards. I had to get out of the valley, gather wood and start mining. I had to prepare for my very first night, when it came.

It seemed to take forever until I climbed out of the valley and was able to stand on a mountain, beneath a tall jungle tree. Looking around, I saw similar mountainous structures, each crowned and covered with various types of jungle growth. The biome I was in appeared to stretch on forever and ever and ever, far into the distance, until they faded into the horizon.

I must admit, at that moment I felt a pang of depression, as dull and painful as a zombie's death-grip on one's throat, as I beheld that endless expanse of jungle mountains.

Why?

Because I had been so excited to be finally seeing the world, and now I was stuck in a place that would take me forever to navigate out from on foot. I may have turned around and left Minecraftia right then and there, if not for the surge of determination that took me to where I am now. And that determination led me to punching down part of the jungle tree to make a crafting table, and from there, wooden tools.

Now I was armed, if not protected, with wooden tools. I had the full set, but I knew deep down that I wouldn't be able to protect myself with my sword, didn't know how to really farm, how to make myself a home...

The list of what I knew and didn't know was endless. I could've gone on and on and on if I wrote a book on it.

But anyway, after I'd gathered my tools and picked up my crafting table, I chopped down some more wood. It was much more easier chopping it with an axe than it was trying to punch it all down. But after I'd cut the stuff up to a certain height, I couldn't reach it any more, so I left it there.

Strangely, it didn't fall due to the pull of gravity.

_That's not fair_, I'd thought glumly, making my way down to where a flat wall of stone had been exposed. _I have to succumb to the pull of gravity, and that tree could float._

And float it did.

I spent the last few precious minutes of my day digging a hole into the mountainside, just large enough for me to enter and turn around in. I didn't have a bed, unfortunately, because I hadn't encountered any sheep. Not that I knew how to _make_ a bed at that time, anyway.

Now, I did receive a brief tutorial before I was sent into the world, but I only remembered part of it. And this part was to mine a few blocks over from the end of my tunnel to create a sort of barrier if a skeleton happened to shoot at me. The other part included placing a block of cobble at the bottom half of my entrance to keep most mobs from coming in. I knew that the block would hinder me if I needed to run for it, but at the moment, I knew it was practically all I had between me and the outside world.

I put up a couple of torches, made from sticks and some coal I'd found while digging into the mountainside, which was lucky, I suppose. I also put a few torches outside for a good measure. They provided quite a bit of light.

Then I retreated inside and put down my crafting table, which I used to help me make a furnace, having remembered that. I put the remainder of my coal inside, but I didn't really have anything to smelt or cook, unforunately. At least I wasn't hungry.

After I'd mined some more, I decided to go back to my entrance to wait for daytime. I was too excited to sleep, and there wasn't anywhere to sleep anyway. Tomorrow, I had things to do, places to explore, and stuff to try. I planned on staying for a very long time.


	3. Chapter 2: I Learn That Falling Hurts

Morning found me carefully scanning my surroundings, noting the high, dirt and stone walls of the surrounding jungle mountains, the vines, and then the pool of water that sat at the very bottom of the valley. I noted some sand around it, and decided to go down and get some to experiment with.

When the sun was fully up, I took away the block of cobble from my entrance and jumped down the mountainside. This was how I experienced my first hurt.

I'd cried out, then quickly stifled my cry, glancing around warily to make sure no one had been close enough to hear. Little did I know that I was the only person exploring this jungle, that any jungle-dwellers would not care about what I did to them. Well, they'd probably care if I killed them, but that wasn't what I meant.

I stood up gingerly, noting that the cracking sound was not that of my ankle breaking, but realizing the dull ache as pain nonetheless. I learned something new already.

I healed up quickly as I padded over to the sand that made a small beach around the pond. I guess it was a pond-it wasn't really big enough to be a lake.

I jumped on the sand a few times, and then I tried punching it. To my delight, it came away easily without the need of a shovel, but after that first block, I used a shovel anyway to speed things up.

As soon as I had dug up a small amount of sand, I looked up and noticed that the sun was beginning to disappear over the tops of the tallest of the jungle trees. It would undoubtedly be night soon, so I thought I should begin attempting to get back into my little dugout, seeing how it'll probably take me awhile on my first day.

My predication came true on that aspect, seeing how a few minutes later I was frustratedly trying to figure out the fastest path back up to the glowing entrance I'd left behind. By now, the valley was beginning to grow long shadows, and I definitely didn't fancy being out here when night fell. Out of irritation, I began jumping up and placing dirt blocks under my feet, and got up to my hidey-hole that way.

Once inside, I turned and slapped a block of cobblestone down on the bottom half of the entrance, just like before, and then retreated back into the safety of my mountain fortress. I scrambled back to where I'd placed my furnace and crafting table, where I decided to try putting sand into the furnace to see if something would happen.

It was both expected and unexpected as I stoked the fires and saw the sand smelting into glass before my eyes. I was exhilirated at the time, but nowadays, I don't laugh in crazy joy when I smelt things anymore. This was newbie laughter, this was newbie discovery. In time, I would learn more and more things, to the point where nothing excited or scared me any more except monsters who attacked while I tried to mine near lava. That was pure horror.

Otherwise, the rest of the night was spent mining, though I never really found anything other than stone, stone, and more stone, as well as some coal. I mined until it was daytime again, to which began a new day of learning.


	4. Chapter 3: I Think this is a Creeper

It was now about a week since I first spawned in this humid jungle world, and I had grown quite used to the oppressive heat that didn't make me sweaty or tired, strangely. It had only rained once so far, and I had built my first chest and was now filling it with all manner of materials, from my excess cobblestone to stacks of wood, from extra dirt to pickaxes and swords that I didn't really need quite yet.

I learned that falling hurt and most things could float in midair, even when I removed things from beneath it, save sand, gravel, water, and me. I learned that squid could spawn in that pool of water that lay at the bottom of the valley, and that squids were harmless despite their gaping maws lined with sharp-looking white teeth and ringed by flapping tentacles pushing them onwards through the shallow water. I also learned that they could be killed, and gave me ink sacs when they died. Other than that, I found out that it took a little bit before you could drown, but I hadn't stayed around long enough to find out.

Indeed, my week had been a rather boring one so far, and as such, I decided to finally give the command to allow monsters into my world.

The prospect was an exciting one, so I didn't hesitate when I made that thought. Wouldn't it be nice to finally have some kind of reason for survival? A reason to unleash my fury when I found the need to, a way to get more resources? That was all that ran through my head that night, where I placed my customary defensive bottom block and armed myself with a stone sword, growing increasingly confident that I could destroy whatever menace dared come meet me at my home. This was before I learned what a zombie's choke hold felt like, what a skeleton's arrow felt like when it stabbed into your knee, what great lengths a creeper's explosion catapulted you to, or what a spider's treacherous bite felt like. Or even the venomous bite of a cave spider for that matter! This was before I realized what all those things truly felt like, _before_ I grew cautious enough to check for any monsters before venturing outside in the night, so that I would not be caught by surprise before I even stepped out the door.

I peered around, my line of sight somewhat obscured by the stone surrounding my peek-hole, but I could clearly see the majority of the valley, including the random pair of squid that seemed to have just spawned in the pond. I gritted my teeth as they flapped around-I was sure that I had eradicated those things completely. I strongly disliked the stiff way they swam, flailing their stick-straight tentacles about as they went. I also disliked the teeth that lined their bright red mouths, even though they were harmless.

I shook my head. _Concentrate,_ I told myself.

Suddenly, across the valley on the opposite wall, I saw a tallish, green form. I leaned against the cobblestone, the only barrier between myself and the monsters that were spawning beyond, and squinted at the form as it turned to face the opposite way, before it jumped off the two-block-high section that it'd been standing on and landed below. I was captivated, squinting at the little green shape, unsure of what I was looking at exactly but knowing it was _something_ all the same.

_Is this a creeper? _I asked myself, holding my breath as it walked around a little and then disappeared into a little cavern I'd dug into a few days earlier, the glow of the torch I'd placed within marking the spot dimly in the darkness. As soon as the creature went out of sight, I backed up a little into my own cave, ears straining to hear any sounds that might signal to me that an enemy was nearby.

Nothing came for the next few minutes, which soon stretched into the last remaining hours of night as I saw the sky above the opposing mountain growing pink. Lucky that my cave faced east, into the morning sun. Otherwise, I wouldn't notice the sun rising until it was past dawn.

I sighed in relief as I waited for the sun to rise completely. I'd survived my first _real _night. And I was secretly proud, even as I kept my face blank and vacant of all emotion as I shouldered my tools and headed out.


End file.
